HYDERABAD: With the recent killing of 10 naxals in an encounter at the Telangana- Chhattisgarh border last week, the state home department has decided to beef up security for the State CM by obtaining a bullet-proof bus for his safety.

The estimated cost for this bulletproof bus is Rs 7 crore which has state of the art facilities along with new security features. The Road’s and Buildings(R&B) department will obtain this bus for CM KCR for his touring business after Maoists had earlier threatened to carry out attacks on TRS leader and CM KCR.

This bus will be the second bulletproof vehicle obtained for CM’s security since CM already has a bulletproof Mercedes Benz bus he got three years ago, which will be used for CMs extended stays in the districts as Helicopter is the primary mode of transport for CMs elections business.

According to the official sources, R&B department held a meeting on Monday in the secretariat and called in for tenders for the new bulletproof bus. A committee has been constituted with R&B principal secretary Sunil Sharma as its member secretary.

“The committee will look into all the required features of the new bullet and mine-proof bus and will send the proposal to GAD for final approval. It would take a minimum two to three months to get the bus ready after finalizing the tenders,” said a senior official of the transport department, TOI reported.